The Tale of BRAIN
by ThornWolf the Loyal
Summary: Fairly lousy title, but it's all I could think of. Pretty self-explanitory too. Summary inside. Rated T for blood and perhaps mild swearing, but nothing too bad.


**Hey guys. Let me explain what's going on, why I still haven't updated "Last" and why I'm starting another project. I almost had chapter 15 of "Last" finished. I was maybe 3 pages away from the end. Then a thunderstorm hit our house and the power went out while I was working on the chapter. When the power returned, the chapter had been corrupted. I have not been able to recover any of it. As one would imagine, this has been rather discouraging for me. In fact, I wasn't able to start rewriting it for a while because I've been so annoyed over losing it. I have now, but it's been coming along slowly because I'm trying to remember what I had already written.**

**So in the meantime, I feel that I owe both old and new readers something to make up for my lack of updates. So I decided to do this. I've had an idea I've wanted to do for a while now. I wanted to explore more of BRAIN's character and share some of my own ideas as to what happened to him. So here it is. It is related to "Last" as you will see in later chapters, so for those who haven't read that yet, I'd recommend it. I'll be doing two, maybe three, short chapters encompassing his life from the point of his creation to when he finally joins the stitchpunks as a true family member. I may go beyond that if I get good feedback, but we'll see. Besides, anything beyond that would be a spoiler for "Last." ;) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "9" or any of the associated characters. All of this is just from and over-active imagination.**

The first thing I saw when I opened my optic was his face. Old, kindly, beaming with joy and pride. He placed a hand on the top of my spherical head. "Welcome to the world, BRAIN," he said softly. "You are my creation, made and given life from my mind, and you were made for peace." Creation? Peace? I did not understand what he was talking about. I knew nothing of the world, and I barely understood what he was saying. But I understood the tone, warm and kind. I liked him.

He began teaching me using simple puzzles that became harder and harder as I progressed. He often told me that I learned faster than he could come up with new tests and puzzles. I grew to respect him as well, my Creator, both for his knowledge and his kindness. I rarely saw other humans, as I learned what he and his colleagues were, and though they understood my intellect, they did not treat me the way he did. They were not cold or cruel to me, but they did not understand me the way he did. They did not think I was alive and aware of my surroundings. He knew that. He knew I was more than a machine. He always greeted me when he came into the room with a cheerful "Good morning, BRAIN." He praised me when I succeeded at a test and helped me understand what I did wrong when I failed. He taught me things outside of the tests, told me about the world outside of the lab. Humans, animals, plants…many, many things. And when he left me at night, he always bid me good night and promised he would be back the next day. I grew to love him, my Creator. Soon I came to think of him as my Father.

But then he changed. He stopped being so happy to see me in the morning. He became sad and tired, started to close himself off from all of us. I knew something was troubling him, but he would not tell me what was wrong. He only said the Chancellor, the man who asked for me to be created and his supervisor, was becoming more demanding. The tests got harder, and now he gave me things to assemble and disassemble. I liked doing that. It felt very natural to me, and it made him very happy when I did things right. I wanted to make him happy. I tried to help him, tried to make him smile again. I did not care about any of the other humans, just him. But he rarely smiled anymore. Only when I did things right or when he was lost in his own thoughts. Once I caught him staring at what looked like a piece of paper. I wanted to see it, and finally he showed me. It was a picture of more humans. He said they were his family and that he had not seen them for a long time. He said he missed them. He then told me that he was very worried about what was going on and what might happen. He said the Chancellor was becoming more demanding, and some of his demands seemed wrong. The Chancellor was becoming dangerous and he regretted going along with him in the first place. I wondered if he regretted making me, but he told me he was proud of me. I wanted to know what was going on, but he refused to explain any more than that. But before he left, he put his hand on my sphere again, just as he had done the day I woke up, and murmured, "You were made for peace. I hope you do not forget that." I was confused, but before I could ask what he meant, he left for the night. I was left alone in the dark lab all night to worry about my Father.

The next day started like any normal day. My Creator came in and greeted me, started me on my usual tests. But then several humans burst into the room. They looked very serious and angry. They were not on the usual staff because they were not in white lab coats. They were in some form of uniform though, and it must have shown that they were very important because the other scientists quickly got out to the way. Only my Creator stayed where he was. In fact, he tried to keep the new humans away from me. But two of them grabbed him and violently pulled him away. He cried out in distress, triggering my anger. They were hurting my Creator, and I had to protect him! I fought back, grabbed one of them and snapped his neck, but more took his place to subdue me. They wrapped me in canvas and tied me up. I could not see or move. Then I felt myself get carried away from the lab, my Home, and put into the back of what must have been a truck. Some of them climbed in and sat next to me, and then I heard doors close. I had hoped the humans sitting in the back with me would tell me what was going on and why they had taken me away, but they stayed silent for the entire trip. What were they going to do with me? Was my Father all right? What was going on? I was frightened.

After what felt like a very long time, the truck stopped and the doors were opened. I could hear the sounds of many humans as I was taken out of the truck and a cheer went up as I was carried past the humans. Why were they cheering? How did they know what was wrapped up in the fabric? Was it even me they were cheering for?

I felt myself get placed onto something, and then my bindings loosed and dropped away from me completely. I was greeted by the faces of many, many humans, more then I had ever seen before in my life. They all looked happy to see me. Some were even taking pictures, the flash of the bulbs making me dizzy. I swiveled my optic around, trying to take in as much of my surrounding as I could. Though I could not see behind me, I could tell that wherever I was, it was a very big place with very high ceilings and lots of different types of machinery. Suddenly I started moving again, but there weren't any humans holding me. I must have been on a conveyer belt of some kind. I panicked but found I could not move. I stopped abruptly and I was afraid I might roll away when something closed around me. I was trapped inside of another contraption! I was afraid. I wanted to go Home, back to my laboratory and my kind Creator! I did not want all of these strangers staring at me! I wanted them to go away!

It was then I learned that I could move. I wanted to get away from them, and I did. I suddenly rose up into the air. It startled me at first, but then I felt something new. I felt big and proud, the same way I did whenever I made my Creator happy. A happy cry rose up from the crowd, and now I knew the gathered humans were cheering for me. It made me feel better. I raised my arms in triumph, and they got louder. They liked me! Perhaps this place was not as bad as I had first thought. The crowd fell silent again as a male human came to stand beneath me. I recognized him as the Chancellor. I had only seen him once before, shortly after I was first created. He was cold and arrogant, nothing like my kind Father. I did not like him much. He frightened me then, but not anymore. I was bigger than him now, and I would not be intimidated so easily anymore.

The Chancellor made a speech about how I was going to bring peace and security to the country, how I was the future. I did not understand what he meant, but I did remember my Creator's words. _You were made for peace. _I silently promised to do my best. I wanted to make him proud. But where was he? I scanned the crowd for him again and again, but I never saw him. Had they done something to him? I was worried and a bit hurt that he was not present to see me about to fulfill my purpose, the one he had made me for.

Another roar from the humans startled me out of my thoughts. They were applauding for his speech. I caught a few saying that their Chancellor was a brilliant man. Had he taken credit for my creation? If so, that made me angry. He was not my creator! I tried to get their attention, to correct what they had mistaken, but no one listened to me. I knew I could not vocalize the way humans did, but my Father always listened to the noises I was able to generate and did understand them, or at least tried to. Why were the humans here not trying to? Then again, the other scientists back in the laboratory had never attempted to…

The humans took more pictures of the Chancellor and myself, and they asked him questions or came closer to marvel at me, but still no one truly talked to me. I felt lonely, even among all these humans. I wanted to go Home. Finally most of them left. Only the Chancellor and humans dressed in the uniforms remained. He turned to look at me for the first time since his speech. "Well, B.R.A.I.N. This is your new home. I hope you like it," he said, sounding cold and very unwelcoming. And why did I need a new home? Was the old one not good enough? I tried to ask, but he ignored me. Instead he turned to the uniformed humans. "These men have all been chosen by myself to stay here and guard you. They will protect you." Protect me? Why did I need humans to protect me? "You have no duties tonight. Feel free to explore the factory. Tomorrow, you begin paving the path to our future," he finished and left. Some of the humans followed him, while others dispersed through the factory.

Apparently, the contraption I was in was attached to the ceiling on a series of rails. I drifted silently through the almost empty building. I did not understand what it was I was supposed to be doing here. I wanted my Creator. He would have explained everything to me. But he was not. I was very worried about him. I tried to question the guards, but they all ignored me. Soon I realized that they were all carefully stationed so there were few places that I was out of their sight. That made me nervous. Why did I have to be kept under such close watch? I was never guarded like this back in the laboratory. Why would they not tell me what was going on? The night dragged on for me, slowly and painfully. I was so lonely and bored. There was nothing to do or see here. My Father often left me with things that I could tinker with throughout the night so I would not get bored. But there was nothing here. It was torturous.

The next morning, I finally learned what I was doing here. I was supposed to build the Chancellor's "machines of peace." Thrilled about finally having something to do, I jumped at the task. And so I happily made the Walkers. But there were things about the design that confused me. I did not understand why I was putting gas tanks and building a mechanism inside it that fired small pieces of metal. I knew the gas was deadly to living things, and surely the firing mechanism could harm a human. If these were machines of peace, why were they so dangerous? But if building them was my purpose, I could not stop. I had to make my Creator proud.

Within a week, I became bored with building these machines. It was all I did day in and day out. And I only got lonelier. No one ever came to talk to me. The guards could have been replaced with statues and I would never have known. They only moved if I stopped working for too long, and that was to yell at me. I did not like that much, so I tried not to get into trouble. I was miserable. I wanted to go Home. I hoped everyday that my Father would come in and take me away from the horrible place, but he never did. Did they do something to him, or did he just not care about me anymore? The only interesting thing was when the guards took their break and listened to a radio in one of the back rooms. But it never played music the way the one in the laboratory had. They only listened to news reports. Most were dull to me, but some of them were frightening. They were about other countries being conquered and listed death tolls. I did not know what those words meant, but they did not sound good to me. I tried to ignore the radio and focus on my mundane job.

At long last, something came to my factory to help with my loneliness. A small animal, a cat, had found its way into the building. It seemed to ignore me at first, but at least it was different and interesting to watch. But it was curious about me. I often caught it watching me from the shadows. I figured out just where the guards could not see me and led the cat to that spot. I was able to take short breaks without causing a commotion and used them to get to know the factory's newest residence. The little feline seemed to like me and I enjoyed its company as much as it enjoyed mine. It was my only friend in this dull place.

But then this little glimmer of light in my world was taken away from me. A guard found my friend one day and decided that it could not live inside my factory anymore. But instead of taking it out of the building, he took out a small metal contraption, pointed it at my cat, and fired. My friend let out a loud cry and then fell to the ground. It did not get up. I rushed to it and picked it up. It was cold and still in my hands. Red liquid dripped out of a hole in its side. _Blood._ A young scientist had once hurt himself in the laboratory and bled. But this was different. He had not fallen still like my cat. But the feline would not wake up. It was not asleep. It was _dead_. The guard had killed my friend! Whatever that little contraption was had killed my cat, and it fired a small metal object similar to the ones I was putting into the Walkers. I now understood what I was doing. The Walkers were not meant to bring peace, they were meant to kill!

I was furious that I had been tricked like this! Had my Creator known this is what I was going to be used for? Was killing humans the Chancellor's idea of bringing about peace? I now understood what all of those radio reports meant. All of this was his plan! Killing humans was his idea of bringing about peace? FINE! If he wanted humans to be dead, than I would grant his wish!

The first to go were the guards. They tried to defend themselves with their little contraptions, their guns, but the tiny bullets had no effect on me. They were easy enough to dispose of. I crushed them in the hands and claws I had previously used to carefully assemble the Walkers. Next, I began reprogramming the machines. They no longer responded to the Chancellor's command, only mine. I only had one command for them: Kill the humans. Of course they obeyed without question. The sounds of war now dominated the world outside, and I was _happy_ about it. But in the back of my mind, I knew what I was doing would not make my Creator proud. But I did not care. I was angry and hurt and betrayed. But I did hope that my Father had found a safe place. I still loved him, and I still wanted to find him again. I missed him greatly. But for now, most of my thoughts were consumed with revenge.

My greatest pleasure was when the Chancellor himself came into my factory with more of his guards. They tried to stop me, but I had guards of my own. My Walkers were far superior to his humans, but I called them off when only the Chancellor was left. The right of killing him was mine. He begged for me to spare him, tried to bargain for his life. I was disgusted by it. He did not ask me to stop killing the other humans, he only cared about himself. Were all humans so selfish? I tired of listening to his pleas and killed him. I was hoping the his death would make me feel better, since he was the one who lied to me and made me create machines of war. But no, I was still angry and hurt. There were so many humans on his side, who supported him and thought what he was doing was right. He was my enemy, so they were as well. My Walkers and I continued our war.

Steadily the world outside my factory fell silent. I knew there must be more humans left farther away from here and knew my Walkers were already on their way to those places to continue on their mission. I felt less angry now and my boredom was returning. I was also becoming increasingly worried about my Creator. I hoped he was still alive. In my fury I had forgotten to tell my Walkers that if they found him he was to be left unharmed and brought to me. After I had killed the Chancellor I had realized my mistake and started ordering my Walkers to do that, but none of them ever returned. Where was he?

I became lonelier and lonelier. The war I had started had ruined part of my factory. I liked order, and the mess and disrepair annoyed me. With nothing better to do, I attempted to clear away the debris and fix what I could. While I was working, I found the body of my cat. I had missed it dearly, almost as much as I had missed my Creator. I was unhappy that it had died. Then a new idea came to me. I built the Walkers and brought them to life. Why couldn't I do the same for my cat?

I worked long and hard on it. Some of the collapsed roof had broken its bones, so I had to find suitable replacements using metal poles and some bones from the guards I had killed. At last I had its new body finished. It no longer looked like the cat that I had befriended, but at least it was mine, and anything was better than being alone. When I brought it to life, it looked around in confusion before finally noticing me. I held out a hand to it and it pressed its skull into it. For the first time in a long time, I felt content. I was not alone anymore.

The following days went by without much happening. I sent out my new creation every so often with instructions to find my Creator, but he always came back with no news for me. I was disappointed that it had not been able to find him, but I decided that it was better than it finding his dead body. I hoped that he had been able to get away to a safe place and was simply in hiding. I hoped he would realize that he was not in danger and that he would soon come to find me. I still wanted him.

And then I started feeling weaker. It was unnoticeable at first, but as time went on, I realized that it was becoming harder and harder for me to move. At first I thought it was because I was running out of oil. The pumps outside had stopped running, and if I could have seen them up close I could have fixed them. But I was trapped inside this factory, tethered to the rails. And though I could send my creation out, he would not be able to fix them himself. It did not have the strength, the knowledge, of the dexterity required to fix them. I was proud of it, but it was still a simple creature. And if I could not figure out a different way to save myself, I was going to die.

I remembered when my Creator had told me how I was created, how I was born. He had used a small disk-like device, what he had called the Talisman. And through it, he had transferred his own intellect into me, giving me life. I had thought that his intellect would last forever, that I was immortal. But that was apparently not the case. I needed a new power source, and I needed that Talisman.

But perhaps it was already too late. I might have brought about my own downfall by destroying humanity. I did not want to die. As miserable as my life had become, I did not want to die. I wanted to see my Father again. At last I sent my creation out to find the Talisman and to find me a new power source, anything at all just as long as it would keep me alive. Once it was out of my sight, I started to shut myself down. I had to conserve what little energy I had left, make it last for as long as possible, to stay alive for as long as possible. The last thing I thought about was my Father, and I promised both him and myself that I would see him again someday.

Then my consciousness ended.

**And that's the end of part one. Hopefully it was good, and I'll get the next section done soon as I continue to work on "Last." Remember to review, constructive criticism is always welcome, and I'll see all of you next time!**


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